Italians in Malindi and the Kenyan coast are forced to say goodbye to another former longtime resident, known and well liked by so many. Giulio Giro had arrived in Malindi in 1990 and only two years ago decided to return to Italy, where a long illness took him away at the age of 73.
"Captain Findus," as we had nicknamed him when he had joined, in the discreet, sympathetic and understated way he used to pose, the Italian community in Malindi in its golden years.
Both because of his beard and the sailor hat he sometimes wore, he was reminiscent of the character in a commercial then in vogue. An importer of various products from Italy, he had opened stores and businesses and then slowly put to use what he had studied for since he was a boy, graduating as a surveyor: building houses but not only, specializing in social, sustainable and solidarity housing.
After a stint in Diani and the commitment to raise to the best of his ability and have his son Giorgio, born in Kenya, who is now 20 years old, Giulio having reached the age when one usually retires, but still having a desire to work, had specialized in building hospitals, schools, orphanages and other solidarity works. Many were the non-profit organizations that relied on him for the prices and passion he put into his work, especially for charitable purposes.
"It has become a specialization," Giulio had once revealed to us, "it is also a pleasure, to see poor people thanking you because you have improved living conditions in the villages, especially in the hinterland of Malindi, where many services are still lacking.
For Giulio, Kenya was "the most beautiful country in the world," and as long as your health and enthusiasm held up, you never thought of returning to Italy. And we hoped to see him appear one day with his sly smile, construction worker walk and knee-length baggy pants.
Hello Giulietto, you will also be missed as an irreplaceable tile in the great mosaic of the Italian Malindi of better times.